The present invention relates to settling containers.
Thus, the present invention relates to containers which are designed to receive a liquid having particles suspended therein. Once such a liquid is introduced into the container, it is possible for particles suspended in the liquid to settle into the lower region of the container while a substantially clear liquid remains at the upper part of the container.
Containers of this type may be used, for example, in connection with urine samples. Thus, urine conventionally contains particles suspended therein. Generally, when the urine is tested, one test should be carried out with the clear urine, free of the particles suspended therein, while if desired additional testing can be carried out in connection with the part of the urine which contains the particles suspended therein. It is, therefore, necessary to provide a container capable of separating the clear liquid from which the particles have settled from the liquid which contains the settled particles.
Containers for this general purpose are known. Thus, conventional containers of this type have in their interior a transverse partition situated above the bottom of the container and formed with an opening so that the particles can settle into the liquid below the partition while above the partition there remains a clear liquid which can be for the most part poured off separately from the lower part of the liquid which contains the settled particles, and thereafter, the lower part of the liquid with the settled particles can also be poured out of the container.
In connection with prior art pertaining to containers of the above general type, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 926,805 which shows a shaving cup for separating liquid from soap, U.S. Pat. No. 2,399,665, relating to a cream separator, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,472 which shows various types of containers having sediment traps and designed particularly for use with alcoholic beverages.
While containers are known to serve functions as set forth above, these known containers are costly to manufacture because of their complex configurations. For example, conventional containers of the above type may have a false bottom which forms a partition as set forth above, but this false bottom complicates the structure of the conventional containers and often is required to be a separate element which is introduced into and joined to the remainder of the container. Moreover, with such conventional containers air can easily become trapped in the lower chamber beneath the partition, and such trapped air often is undesirable.